June 20, 2014

Concern in Guinea after rising cases of Ebola in West Africa

An increase in cases of hemorrhagic fever, partly due to Ebola virus, Thursday aroused concern people in Guinea, the most affected by the epidemic also affects Sierra Leone and neighboring Liberia.

No official comment was, however, could be obtained by AFP about it until Thursday afternoon.

"This Ebola case is rather worrying. We do not know what to expect. Sometimes we are told that Ebola is (contained), and sometimes you learn it reappeared in other villages or urban centers" told AFP Mamady Traoré, trader met in the suburbs of Conakry.

Abdoulaye Barry, a taxi driver, said that "the government can do nothing against the disease."

According to the latest toll released Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 398 cases of hemorrhagic fever (including 264 deaths) have been reported since the beginning of the year in Guinea. Of these 398 cases, 254 were confirmed by analysis to be due to Ebola.

The epidemic, which broke out in the south-east of the country, now affects many areas: new homes have recently emerged in areas that were free as Télimélé and Boffa (west) and in areas where it raged as already Guéckédou Kissidougou (south), according to experts.

Thursday in Conakry, no particular health system was visible around official strategic buildings, including ministries. But the entry of banks and insurance companies, sanitizing gels were offered to customers, according to an AFP journalist.

Currently, "we are faced with a second peak of the epidemic. What is unusual is the dispersion of households, it complicates things" in the fight, said Wednesday AFP Marie-Christine Ferir a responsible for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an NGO very active on the ground in Guinea.

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An increase in cases of hemorrhagic fever, partly due to Ebola virus, Thursday aroused concern people in Guinea, the most affected by the epidemic also affects Sierra Leone and neighboring Liberia.

No official comment was, however, could be obtained by AFP about it until Thursday afternoon.

"This Ebola case is rather worrying. We do not know what to expect. Sometimes we are told that Ebola is (contained), and sometimes you learn it reappeared in other villages or urban centers" told AFP Mamady Traoré, trader met in the suburbs of Conakry.

Abdoulaye Barry, a taxi driver, said that "the government can do nothing against the disease."

According to the latest toll released Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 398 cases of hemorrhagic fever (including 264 deaths) have been reported since the beginning of the year in Guinea. Of these 398 cases, 254 were confirmed by analysis to be due to Ebola.

The epidemic, which broke out in the south-east of the country, now affects many areas: new homes have recently emerged in areas that were free as Télimélé and Boffa (west) and in areas where it raged as already Guéckédou Kissidougou (south), according to experts.

Thursday in Conakry, no particular health system was visible around official strategic buildings, including ministries. But the entry of banks and insurance companies, sanitizing gels were offered to customers, according to an AFP journalist.

Currently, "we are faced with a second peak of the epidemic. What is unusual is the dispersion of households, it complicates things" in the fight, said Wednesday AFP Marie-Christine Ferir a responsible for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an NGO very active on the ground in Guinea.